VIOLET, La. - Taye Diggs spent his down time from the writers' strike caroling Monday night in a place where the Christmas spirit is coming back: St. Bernard Parish, hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.
Diggs joined a gospel choir and New Orleans singer Irma Thomas in Violet, where many people are still living in trailers more than two years after Katrina flooded the town with water up to the roofs of homes.
"It's quite eye-opening. As much as you hear on the news, it's completely different when you see it firsthand," Diggs said about the destruction caused by Katrina.
He said he was impressed and moved by the "strength, the kind of tenacity, the strong sense of faith and hope that these people have."
Breanna Bienemy, an 18-year-old studying to be a nurse, said she was grateful that Diggs came to St. Bernard, a largely rural parish southeast of New Orleans.
"They make such a big deal about New Orleans. It's just nice to see people acknowledging us," she said.
Diggs plays Dr. Sam Bennett in the "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff "Private Practice," which co-stars Kate Walsh, Tim Daly and Amy Brenneman. He has also appeared on the hit television shows "The West Wing," "Ally McBeal" and "Law and Order."
Diggs is probably best known for his role as Winston Shakespeare in the hit 1998 romantic film "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."
